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There is an incredible thirst for Masonic education as
evidenced by the Midwest Conference on Masonic Education
held at the Scottish Rite Masonic Center in Omaha, April
25-27, 2008. Over a hundred Masons attended including
those from Ohio, Michigan, Manitoba, New Mexico and all
other states in the upper Midwest. Over 50 Masons
represented Nebraska alone, several coming from as far
west as Alliance.
Masonic Education Think Tank
It began Friday afternoon with our own Bro. Bob Whipple
facilitating an open discussion on many aspects of
Masonic education in the 21st century. Topics centered
on “Teaching Masonic Values,” “Should Masonry Be More
Public?,” “Joy in the Success of Others” and a session
wrap up. Bob did an excellent job of giving everyone an
opportunity for input, and Bro. Tom Hauder worked his
technical wizardry keeping a running outline of thoughts
that were projected on the screen for all to see.
What Do Other Jurisdictions Do?
After a spaghetti dinner catered by the Scottish Rite’s
own Culinary Masters, the attendees gathered for an
evening of sharing Masonic education ideas and programs
throughout the 13 jurisdictions represented at the
conference. It was fascinating to learn the diversity of
programs under the banner of Masonic education.
Education Day - Saturday
The goal of this year’s conference was to provide as
much Masonic education as possible in an 8-hour day, and
we did exactly that. After an impressive opening
ceremony including the posting of the colors by the
Order of the Sojourners, led by Bro. Ed Nolte, and
opening comments from Grand Master Reg Kuhn and
conference president Larry Jacobsen, we launched into 3
hours of concurrent sessions covering 8 Masonic
education topics:
Masonic Education – Past, Present & Future
by Jack
Butler and Craig Hummel of Iowa
Presentation is the Key by Bob Murphy of Michigan
An Alternative View of Masonic Education by Chad Simpson
of Ohio
Socrates Café & Masonic Education by Tom Hauder of
Nebraska
Virtue Ethics by Dr. Nelson Stone of South Dakota
Masonic Customs Then & Now by Tim Couch of Missouri
Lessons the Church Can Teach Masonry by Terry Tilton of
Minnesota
A Revolutionary War Historian Reexamines Prince Hall
by John Parsons of Nebraska
The Keynoters
We were extremely fortunate to have two of the most
preeminent Masonic scholars in the country at our
conference – Dr. S. Brent Morris (pictured bottom right)
who presented his book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to
Freemasonry, and a presentation on Dealing With the
Media in the 21st Century, both highly informative and
entertaining. He was followed by Bob Davis from Guthrie,
Oklahoma (bottom left) who gave a very thought-provoking
presentation on Freemasonry in the Modern Culture –
Getting Back to Basics. He really got the audience
involved in great discussions following his
presentation. We were so honored to have had both Brent
and Bob with us for the conference. They are great
facilitators and champions of the Masonic education
experience.
Happy Hour at the Goose & Gridiron
The education sessions were capped off with a one-hour
session of small-group critical thinking exercises on
topics concerning Masonic values. Sound boring? It was
one of the best received sessions of the conference!
Thanks to Bro. Tom Hauder who has promoted this idea of
facilitated group discussions as an alternative to
Masonic lectures, we now find even the most reticent of
Masons openly and quite eloquently expressing how they
interpret the values of Masonry. All it takes is an
informal setting and a facilitator who asks questions
rather than expresses opinions. We learned after the
conference that two other jurisdictions are interested
in setting up these programs in their area.
Masonic Unity
By all measures, this was an excellent education
conference, and Nebraska was honored to host it, but one
of the features that resonated with so many of the
visiting jurisdictions was Nebraska’s embodiment of
Masonic unity – the idea that Blue Lodges, Scottish
Rite, York Rite, the Shrine and other appendant bodies
enjoy working together for the common good of Masonry.
This culture of true brotherly love could be the lasting
legacy of this year’s education conference. If that
spark catches on elsewhere, then we have contributed
greatly to the sustainability of Masonry in the 21st
century.
The challenge with Masonic Unity is that there are so
many people to thank. Forgive me for I will not be able
to recognize all who helped, but let me start:
• The Nebraska Grand Lodge Education Committee that
has been working for the past two years to make this the
best conference ever – Denny Brydl, Tom Hauder, John
Parsons, Bob Whipple, Eduardo Casas, Mike Webb, Dan
Nonneman, Ron Stites, and Dale Anderson.
• Curt Edic, General Secretary of the Omaha Valley
Scottish Rite, for making the building available and
facilitating and hosting of our two keynote speakers.
Greg Swinarski for taking great care of the building and
all the set-ups required.
• Pauline Parsons and Ann Hauder for organizing the
ladies program.
• The Culinary Masters and Mistresses for serving the
Friday dinner, Saturday lunch and Saturday banquet.
• Knights of St. Andrews for Saturday breakfast and
other support services required. Special thanks to AJ
Johnson for handling the transportation of attendees to
the hotel and back. It takes a village, and I’ve never
been more proud of our Masonic citizen in Nebraska!
Thanks to Brother Tom Hauder who established the
conference website. We have nearly all the conference
sessions posted as well as videos of the sessions.
Simply go to www.midwestmasoniceducation.com.
Larry Jacobsen, 2008 President,
Midwest Conference on Masonic Education
June 2008
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